Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Third Wave Feminism

I agree with the viewpoints of the third wave feminism. Unlike the second wave feminism where they attempted to get women into equal jobs and push women into positions of equality the third wave feminism bounces ideas off of the second wave feminist goals. But they also try and challenge and expand common definitions of gender and sexuality. I believe that this is crucial for our society; because although it is very important to have the numbers and see the equality first hand in businesses, education and society we need to alleviate the society of gendered stereotypes in order to make a lasting change. Even though we have seen a lot of changes and pushes towards equality, like in the module on women in the workplace, it was still a relevant issue on how women were informally held back. Through things such as glass ceilings, interest groups, sexual harassment and pregnancy issues women are still not given complete equality. I think that we need to change the "face" of women in order to gain this complete equality it is going to take a major overhaul of the stereotypes that are embedded in our minds. It is also important to take into account the different types of privilege and oppression that each person faces. Equality is not the same for everyone; different people require different needs in order for them to achieve equality. This is another thing that the second wave failed to realize is the issue on intersectionality. Not all women are the same and not all women go through the same troubles and need the same issues taken care of. We need to realize the different experiences that women go through and help alleviate all areas of oppression not just the ones that deal with gender. I wish that I believed that we could completely alleviate all gender and sexuality stereotypes, but sadly I feel like they will never fully go away. But I do believe that it is important to slowly start chipping at these stereotypes and change the traditional views on women, men, African Americans, whites, gays, transgenders, etc. so hopefully lead this society to greater equality.